Playthings
by Helen
Summary: The Goblin King has drawn yet another innocent into his realm...


Shannon sat curled up on her bed, listening to the rain drum against the windows, staring at the book in her hands

   Shannon sat curled up on her bed, listening to the rain drum against the windows, staring at the book in her hands. It was old--so old that if she held it close to her face she could practically smell the age of the cracked red leather and yellowed paper. The title on the front, in gold lettering, was the only thing that always seemed new about it: The Labyrinth. The door was locked, so there was no chance her mom would come in and nag her about needing new books to read. She didn't want a new book, though--she wanted this one.

   Shannon couldn't count the times she'd read it. All she knew was she'd read it enough to able to quote every line of it, without even trying. Still, it fascinated her. Which was why she was about to read it again tonight. As she opened the cover, the words came to her mind before she even saw them: "Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle..." Shannon tried to imagine it, questing through a strange world of goblins and magic, fighting time itself to defeat the Goblin King. It sounded kind of hokey when you thought of it that way, but you had to know more about her to really understand why she felt so strongly about a book. All her life she'd been constantly y on the move, and never having had any real friends led her to turn to books as her only source of entertainment. It was just so _real for her, as if she were actually there living it. Whatever it was, she always liked this book best of all. Dreamily, she thought what it would be like to really live in the Labyrinth.... suddenly she blinked. __It must be later than I thought, for me to be falling asleep already...slowly her eyelids dropped down, the book still open in her hands. Her last murmured words, as she thought again of her parents and friends criticizing her for her 'bookishness', were, "I wish I could live in the labyrinth..."_

   It was raining in the Labyrinth. The Goblin King lounged on his throne, arrogant and bored at the same time. Goblins were no proper entertainment for someone of his stature--what he needed was a little fun with one of the mortals. He held up his hand, and a shimmering crystal ball appeared out of nowhere. Gazing into it, he turned his thoughts towards who he might be able to bring here. You couldn't just drag anyone here--they had to want to come, or be wished there. 

   He soon found one of the former, a slip of a girl sprawled across a bed, with a little red leather book in her hands. Yes, she would do. Smiling, he concentrated...

   Shannon opened her eyes, frowning--why was it so bright? And since when was her bed so hard? She sat up--and looked around in surprise. She was sitting in the middle of a dusty plain, with no signs of habitation. Except for in front of her...she stared harder at the crazy rambling maze, the old decrepit castle...it could only be one thing: The Labyrinth.

   This wasn't the kind of thing that happened every day, even for her. She didn't get up right away, but merely took stock of the situation. She needed to get home--presumably she could only do so through the Labyrinth. How much time did she have? Thirteen hours...depending on how long she'd been there already. Sighing, she stood up--it looked like that adventure she'd been wishing for was finally here. She swore that, whoever had brought her here, would be getting a significant piece of her mind before all was done.

   It wasn't more than about 15 minutes walking to reach the Labyrinth--but of course she couldn't find the gates. _What did you expect--that they'd hang up a sign and break out the china? She berated herself. It must be around here somewhere..._

   The Goblin King stared into the crystal dancing above his fingertips with a chilly smile--the girl hadn't found the gates. Perhaps she would need help. After all, the fun wouldn't really begin until she was lost in the Labyrinth itself. There was little amusement in watching her flounder about on the fringe of his kingdom. He decided to push her along...

   After what felt like an eternity of pacing the gray stone wall, Shannon plopped onto the ground with a heavy sigh. Her hair tumbled forwards into her face, and she absently shoved it back over her forehead. 

   _Where are those gates? You don't build a maze like this without an entrance. It had to be close...unless there was some trick to finding it, some optical illusion that needed to be looked at in just the right way before it revealed itself...pushing herself off the ground, she turned and began to walk back the way she had come. There, set into the face of the wall, were two large, wooden, iron bound doors that seemed to swing open of their own accord. An eerie fog shrouded whatever might lie inside. Taking a deep breath, Shannon stepped into it._

   Emerging from the fog, she looked from side to side. In front of her lay more of the same, solid brick, both of the walls forming a narrow road paved in cobblestones between them. No matter how hard she stared and squinted, though, she couldn't see anything different about either route--both could have gone on forever, for all she knew. She didn't like the idea of just setting off in an unknown direction; time after all was precious. Could she climb the wall, and perhaps get an idea of where she was headed? _It's worth a shot, she reasoned. _

   The wall was rough, with plenty of fissures in the rock to offer handholds. Digging her fingernails into it, she hoisted herself up inch by inch. Glancing over her shoulder, she felt a trickle of sweat slide down her forehead. It was far from easy, and she got the feeling that landing on her back on those paving stones wouldn't be the most pleasant experience ever. Persevering, she finally reached the top. Swinging her legs up, she straddled the wall and gazed about her. The Labyrinth was immense--and the road behind her appeared to go all the way around. She gave a wry smile; thank God she hadn't taken that path. Grinning triumphantly, she lowered herself over the other side of the wall and dropped down… 

   Disbelief painted her features--she was right back where she'd started, same road, same wall, same gates.  _What the hell...she knew she'd climbed over that wall. __This has to be another illusion, like the gate. There's a trick to it someplace...but can I find it? Muttering under her breath about adventures, idiots, and how well the two went together, she leaned back against the inner wall. No good trying the road, at least not yet. It was an effort to calm her thoughts, as the knowledge that time was slowly slipping away chiseled panic into her brain. The yellow sun beat down on her from directly above, the wall offering no shade in the noonday heat. Angrily she spun around and delt the wall a hefty kick. To her incredible surprise, her foot hit nothing, but kept on moving through the wall until she overbalanced and fell almost flat on her face. Sitting up, she realized she was not incapable of further surprise: she was on the other side of the wall._

   Shannon dusted herself off and dug a quarter out of her pocket. _Heads left, tails right, she decided. Flipping it high into the air and watching it flash as the sun caught its surface, she reached out and snagged it on its way down. It was heads. "Left it is," she said aloud as she headed deeper into the Labyrinth._

   Shannon had been walking for a good ways before she began to fully realize the nature of the labyrinth. A clear path could suddenly turn into a dead end behind her, or a turn left might really lead right. All in all it made for a frustrating time, unrelieved by any change in the solid stonework around her…until she saw the goblin.

   It was a short, squat little thing, so ugly it was almost cute. It gazed up at her, blinked, and scuttled into a bush. Patiently, Shannon waited, fully prepared to pounce on the thing and shake it till it showed her the way out. 

   After a long stint later, she decided it was pointless--the goblin was not going to put in another appearance. She had just straightened from her crouch, when suddenly she spied the familiar figure waddling into an archway of hedge. As silently as she could, she crept up behind it and made a grab. 

   "EEEEEEK!"

   Resisting the temptation to clap her hands to her ears at the sound of the earsplitting screech, she held on firmly to the small creature. After a moment of useless kicking and squealing, it began to babble.

   "Notta hurt Meeki! Meekino noting! Spara Meekiiiiiii!" it wailed.

   Raising a brow and wrinkling her nose in distaste, Shannon dangled it higher and summoned up her most threatening voice. "_Yes _hurt Meeki, or whatever the hell your name is. Tell me how to get out of here and I'll let you go."

   More babbling. "Gooda Meeki, notta hurt, putta good Meekidown, yisyis!"

   She gave it a shake. "Show me the way out!"

   It stopped struggling, and a crafty glint entered its eyes. "Meekishow, yisyis, dropfirst 'do." 

   "You must think I'm a low watt bulb, buddy," she remarked dryly. "Listen, I'll make you a deal: Meeki show way out, me not make Meeki one with stones." She stomped her foot down on the cobbling to illustrate her point. "Now…which way to the center of the Labyrinth?"

   Meeki sobbed pitifully. "Nuno, Meeki nuno!"

   Rolling her eyes in disgust, she lowered it most of the way to the ground before dropping it. With much squeaking and scuttling, Meeki vanished into the nearby hedge.

   It was hot. Desparately wishing she'd been wearing a lighter t-shirt when the Goblin King decided to snatch her away, she wondered if she was any closer to the center. She was almost ready to start walking towards the walls, in hopes that another illusion would somehow lead her to the center. Pausing at a three way intersection, she was pondering which path to take when she heard a slight cough.

   Jerking around, Shannon found herself face to face a slight, human girl. The stranger's  face was girlish, framed with dark hair, and her brown eyes were studying Shannon with intense interest.

   "Hello," the girl said shyly. "Who're you?"

   Shannon gave her name hesitantly. "And you are?"

   "Mara. I'm by myself," she added  forlornly. "Are you alone too?"

   Sighing, Shannon glanced around. "Not anymore…Mara, do you happen to know the way to the castle?"

   The child's face clouded. "I don't go there," she muttered sullenly. "Don't like goblins."

   "I don't blame you," Shannon replied under her breath. "Listen, Mara…it's very important I go there…I won't make you take me, but could you at least show me a path there?"

   Mara shook her head violently. "No! Don't go there…you gonna be just like the others." Before Shannon could ask her to explain the cryptic statement, she switched gears.  "Come with me, to my house…you can play with me." With that, she began skipping down the right hand path. Glancing at the sun, Shannon followed what was, unfortunately, her best bet out of the Labyrinth.

   The Goblin King glared into his crystal a moment longer before flinging it out the nearest window. He'd completely forgotten Mara…the game was losing its amusement rapidly. Perhaps, though, he could still enjoy himself.

   A slow, cruel smile spread across his features. Perhaps he would provide the girls with another playmate.

   Mara's path was taken seemingly at random, and Shannon was getting edgy. Over white flagstone paths and under low arched hedges the child went, leaving her companion to squeeze through as best she could. Abruptly, the path they were on ended at a solid wall of hedge and thorn. Mara, however, was not at all perplexed. Carefully reaching through a gap in the greenery, she held perfectly still a moment. A faint voice emerged from behind the bush:

   "Marawait, Meeki open!"

   Shannon gaped. _Not that bloody thing again, _she thought desperately. 

   Meanwhile, Mara had retracted her arm. What she was waiting for became apparent as one of the flagstones suddenly slid aside, revealing a small tunnel just big enough to allow a person to crawl through on hands and knees. Dropping to the ground, Mara scuttled through without a thought. Shannon followed more slowly, with much muttering as she scraped her elbows on the rough stone.

   Both emerged in a small circular clearing, totally surrounded by hedge. At the sight of Shannon, Meeki the goblin made a startled noise and attempted to escape under the greenery, but Mara  made a grab for him, smiling.

   "Wherrago Meeki?" she inquired curiously.

   "Meeki nowanna be onewit stones!" he gabbled fearfully, his beady eyes swinging back and forth between his exit and a frowning Shannon.

   _May as well apologize. _"I didn't mean it, Meeki…I promise I won't hurt you."


End file.
